After spending time

in darkness, maybe we’ll learn

to appreciate the light.

~

It is often said,

there can be no happiness

without, first, feeling sorrow.

Unexpected gifts

shocking white among the brown

November roses blooming

~

Such surprising gifts

are received with a smile

on these gray November days

Songs can pick us up

and carry us to places

we left years ago.

~

When such trips arise

best we board that magic bus

down the road to Shambala.

Though it’s difficult,

we can often find our path

even on a moonless night.

~

Though it should’t be

hard, we often lose our way

on the sunniest of days.

These days the weather

is as unpredictable

as Trump’s mental state.

~

Forecasts have become

much more unpredictable

since he fired forecasters.

Incivility

by unreasoned idiots

led to this heated climate.

~

Too burned up to think,

they let the fire of their

feelings burn everything down.

Now that you’re one day

older and deeper in debt,

give your congressman a call.

~

Because calling him,

or one of his factota,

makes me younger and richer?

I apologize

to you, my dearest mother,

for becoming an old man.

~

‘Tis impossible

for someone as young as me

to have an old son.

Today writing verse

has been stuck in reverse, but

it could have been worse.

~

Rear view mirrors serve

as effective assistants

when hindsight is required.

Dawn’s creative flash,

sadly, slipped back into dream

as the day progressed.

~

Sadly those flashes

can quickly fade and leave us

wishing they’d return.

As much as we’d like

things are seldom black and white

but sometimes there’s gold.

~

Gold is rare as well.

Mostly, we more often see

a continuum of greys.

When the Red-Tails come,

falling squirrel populations

join the falling Autumn leaves.

~

Though Knox grows sadder,

I heave a sigh of relief.

There’s less pulling on the leash.

On a walk with Knox

waiting for something to drop

other than this rain.

~

Dropsies are common

roundabouts this time of year.

That’s why they call it the fall.

Even before dawn

small birds chirp to greet the day

defying owls nearby.

~

If owls are truly

wise, they won’t try to reply.

They’ll just nod their heads.

Before the day ends

I’ll send this belated start

your way. I almost forgot.

~

In post-meeting fugue

I almost forgot to check

and see what you started here.

Dawn, though late coming,

casts it’s sharp, revealing light

on a, still, endarkened world.

~

There are those who still

prefer to dance in darkness.

They’ll meet in the new ballroom.

The results are in.

The people have spoken. We’ll

have some leaders who listen…

~

yet some still deny

the voices of the people

as they cling to the big lie.

VOTE… while you still can.

In this contentious era

apathy is no excuse.

~

We need to augment

beliefs with actions and step

up and cast our votes.

There may come a day

when differences don’t divide,

but first we have to listen.

~

Listening, my dear,

is only the beginning.

We must, also, learn to hear.

Hanging on the wall,

Sakura rendered in glass,

is beautiful, but shallow.

~

Still, it reminds us

not to lose hope. It’s autunm

now, but spring’s blossoms will come.

Knox’s natural coat

kept him much warmer than my

manufactured one.

~

Artifice can not,

under normal circumstance,

compete with Mother Nature.

On this Hallows eve,

what’s the odds we’ll get a treat

from the Great Pumpkin-in -Chief?

~

It’s more likely we’ll

get a trick. He saves all treats

for his haunted self.

As trees become gold

we hope and pray our country

does not turn to lead.

~

Anti-alchemy

seems to be a common gift

‘mong self-styled, self-made men.

War of the Roses

ended with Henry’s crowning.

But we know, that’s history.

~

We know a guy who

covets the crown and wants to

refashion our history.

Something money can’t

buy: integrity. Perhaps

that’s why he has none.

~

Selfish sycophants,

damming him with baseless praise,

drown integrity at birth.

There is much to do

before Autumn rains begin

to prepare for Spring‘s return.

~

And when that’s all done

hopefully we can settle

down for a long Winter’s nap.

The leaves say goodbye

to the place they once called home.

It’s a real downer.

~

Falling from a place

where you have, long been, rooted

can presage new adventures.

Once upon a time

a mother and son began

a whole new way to relate.

~

Sharing their thoughts with

each other in a very

public way day after day.

Amidst all the noise

the sun still rises and sets

even on the bleakest days.

~

Hiding in that noise,

not quite lost in the chaos,

resonates our greatest joys.

Even though it warns

of the coming dormancy,

autumn color warms the heart.

~

And prepares us for

the eventual leaf fall

and the stark beauty to come.